I'm new to MiniMins and thought I would come and say hello now that I have decided that Cambridge is the diet for me.

I spoke to a CDC last night and have an appointment to meet early next week, really looking forward to it and am cutting down on fat and carbs in preparation.

I really think that this is going to work for me, but I do have one pretty major worry so some support and/or advice would be welcomed.

My worry is other people, I have been bringing VLCDs up in conversation with the people at work and my friends and had very negative viewpoints from them, I have told them that my medically qualified doctor is currently doing the Cambridge Diet himself and recommended it to me as safe and maintainable!
But so far all I have gotten from friends and colleague is

that it's not safe

that I will have loose skin if I lose weight too quickly

that the weight will just go back on

that if I continue at the gym and eating healthy I can "be a nice size 16 by christmas" - I'm 24 I don't want to be a nice size 16 by christmas which will still make me the biggest person in a room full of my friends and if you say 10lbs per dress size still clinically obese!!!

I hope from my post you can see that I don't agree with the things my friends say I really want to do this but I worry how I can do it with everyone around me thinking these things! (My family support me and the diet fully)

I don't want to have to hide my diet at work or socially, I am going to have to hide it from my personal trainer as I know he would lecture me endlessly.

I just don't know what to do I feel like Fern Britton with her gastric band!!

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Regarding other people, at the end of the day its no one elses business but yours. Whatever anyone says to you, should smile sweetly and reply, "well my Doctor doesn't agree with you and as hes medically qualified I'm happy" and then change the subject. Don't try and justify yourself to them, you don't have to!!!

Hi and welcome.
Congratulations on deciding to start CD. It will definately be the best decision you've made.
Unfortunately people don't seem to have a great perception of VLCD but on the most part this is purely down to ignorance.
I am 12 weeks down the line and have chosen to only tell my OH, and both my sister's, no-one else knows. I simply did this as I felt the diet was hard enough without having to explain myself.
However, I think it's great that you've taken the option not to hide it. All I would say is get as much information together about it so you can answer any negativity with confidence.
Either that or tell them to mind their beeswax.
The best of luck with everything.

Complete a month - done 31-05-2012
Get into the 100's
Weigh less than my OH
Be classed as overweight rather than obese
Fit into size 16
Get back into my long brown boots
Fit back into my dress I wore for my 30th.
Fit back into my blue warehouse dress
Be normal according to BMI
Fit back into my size 12 next dress.
Wear my size 10 jeans again.

The most important thing is to stay focussed & remember that you're doing this for YOU, no-one else.

Perhaps you could tell them that this is the decision you've come to and it would be nice to have their support but you will be doing it regardless, and that if they cant give positve input then you'd prefer no input to negativity.

With regards to their specific criticisms:

> Your fully trained, medically qualified doctor has deemed it safe, as have many before him.

> You will be taking steps to minimise loose skin - which is of course a risk for anyone on any diet with a lot to lose.

> Anyone on any diet who succesfully reaches target then resumes their old eating habits will put the weight back on. This is not exclusive to CD or VLCDs. Been there done that lol

> yes you could be a nice size 16 by Christmas by those methods, thank you but thats not what you're aiming for.

Be confident, be informed and show them that you HAVE made the right choice FOR YOU! You arent doing this to please them, nor are you asking them to abstain from food or make any sacrifices on your behalf. Of course the best comeback will be to see you happy & content with the choice that you've made.

GOAL 1: Make it through Week 1
GOAL 2: Lose another stone by 16th May - 17lbs lost!
GOAL 3: Be in the 15s by first June WI Done by last May WI!
GOAL 4: Get to 15st 4lbs (and 3 stone off) by 21st June done by 10th June!
GOAL 5: Be 13st 4lbs by 13th August (5 stone off) done by 29th July!
REACHED 1st TARGET WEIGHT 5th August

Just ignore everyone's comments....usually you get negative comments from people who know nothing about the diet...

The diet was developed by Doctors, your Doctor uses it & has recommended it to you, there are LOADS of success stories out there, & you WILL lose weight with it if you stick to it, so that's all that matters.

Many people find so-called friends get quite bitchy once you start losing weight, as they are jealous.....bet you've heard many a size 10 or 12 woman moaning about being fat, when they really have no idea what being fat is all about !!!?

Just prove to everyone that it works, & show them all how fabulous you can look )

Well, we've had a thread a week or two back about the friends that refuse to comment on our so obviously better looking bodies, hair, skin, attitude, confidence etc etc. and we've all risen above it. Just you wait til you've lost weight in a short space of time and they'll all want to know more about it whether they approve or not.
You know that it is going to change you for the better and thats what counts. You could always start up the programme a bit so you're still eating and work back to SS but ask most of us here and the way we felt and how much weight we lost in the first few weeks was just fantastic and worth any negative comment from the green eyed monsters.
Good luck whatever you decide to do. We'll all be here to support you.

I have decided that this diet is for ME not anyone else and like my doctor said about himself I need to accept that I can't do it the normal way, I need to change my relationship with food.

I am not going to make an announcement about what I am doing but I am sure as the fat melts away people will begin to wonder!

I think wondering if people are whispering about me behind my back that I am on a radical diet will be better than my fat related paranoia about people introducing me as the "big one". Plus I am a very proud person I don't like being wrong and have so many people waiting to say "I told you so" will hopefully keep the weight off!

Just need to start the diet now.

I can't wait to sit on any chair at a party, wear any dress I want from any shop and to go diving without half a ton of weighs trying to keep my half a ton of lard underwater!!!!

GOAL 1: Make it through Week 1
GOAL 2: Lose another stone by 16th May - 17lbs lost!
GOAL 3: Be in the 15s by first June WI Done by last May WI!
GOAL 4: Get to 15st 4lbs (and 3 stone off) by 21st June done by 10th June!
GOAL 5: Be 13st 4lbs by 13th August (5 stone off) done by 29th July!
REACHED 1st TARGET WEIGHT 5th August

i haven't told anyone at work except the chap i sit next to because he's one of my best friends and very good at making comments and criticisms without realising they make me want to rip his face off. so i told him it was doctor monitored, that i saw somebody about it each week (he's started calling her my nutritionist and i haven't corrected him) and he hasn't said a word. nobody else in the office knows... told one of my friends and she doesn't seem to have clicked with the 'i'm not telling anyone' thing and therefore told everybody i used to work with so they all turned up for coffee at my house telling me how sorry they were i wouldn't be able to eat the cake. i would have killed her but she's rather socially inept so i didn't bother nobody really flinched other than asking about it out of curiosity.

do it for you. if you don't want to tell people then don't hon. it's your business. and lots of people have posted that the people that used to criticise start asking how to do it once they see the results and the high energy levels that people have doing cd!!

In all honesty, I was one of 'those' who looked down on the diet. But it was my ignorance that made that happen, for some reason I thought it was all about starvation etc, but now I have been educated I completely understand it.

There are a lot of people in my small area doing it and I am sick of being the fat one wherever I go, I want to wear nice things, I can't wait to see my hubby's face when he sees a lighter me (he is away, and doesn't know anything about it!).
My son starts school in September and I so badly don't want to be the fat mum in the school yard. I want to wear my engagement ring which I haven't worn for 4 years as it is too tight. I want to jet off on our magical holiday over Christmas and not feel upset or paranoid that people are sniggering at me on the plane as I struggle to do up my seatbelt.

So, be like me, do it for all of the things YOU want. I am only on day 4, we can do it together? Other people's opinions are mattering less and less to me the older I get, I have spent years worrying how others feel and think, it's MY turn now.

Be strong and be confident, the 'thinner' me is desperately struggling to get out and I for one cannot wait to meet her again, it's been almost 8 years since we last met!

~ Jan ~Weeks 1-4 ~ 23lbs lost
Weeks 5-8 ~10lbs lost (including a 5 day break)
Week 9 ~ STS :sigh: cdc stuck on her hols due to flight situation so had to have some meals.
Week 10 ~ 2lbs lost
Week 11 ~ gave up, really messed around, somehow still lost 1lb
I REALLY need to do this!

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